For Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d start with the tune that’s widely regarded as one of the most saccharine, schmaltzy melodies of all time.

You’ll probably recognize the music, even if you don’t recall its name. The tune is probably best known for its use in the great “soap poisoning” scene in the 1983 holiday film classic “A Christmas Story.” 

The song’s name: “Hearts and Flowers.” It has lyrics, too. 

We’ll musically pursue those two timely topics for Valentine’s Day, but let’s separate them.

First, a small sampling of “heart” songs — and then a big bouquet of flower songs.

But before we get started, a quick aside: Check out this fascinating article from The Awl that explains why so many of us love making — and reading — lists.

 Now, on to our Valentine’s list …

Hearts . . .
• Wayne Newton’s first charting song, “Heart! (I Hear You Beating).”

• “Heart,” from the musical “Damn Yankees.”

• Three “downer” heart songs: Brenda Lee’s “Heart in Hand,” Elvis’ “One Broken Heart for Sale” and Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”

• And three upper songs: Neil Diamond’s “Heartlight,” Jan and Dean’s doowop version of the classic “Heart and Soul,” and the Ray Charles Singers’ “Love Me With All Your Heart.”

... And flowers
• Dinah Shore’s novelty song “Sweet Violets.”

• Jud Strunk’s “Daisy a Day” and Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs’ “Daisy Petal Pickin’.”

And a big bouquet of roses — 15 rose songs, to be exact. We’ll start with the red ones:

• Bobby Vinton’s 1962 breakthrough No. 1 song, “Roses Are Red” and ... the instant "answer" record, Florraine Darlin’s “Long As the Rose Is Red,” which only reached No. 62 later that year.

• Vic Dana’s “Red Roses for a Blue Lady” (plus one more from the crooner: “Moonlight and Roses”). 

Then, some yellow ones:

• Bobby Darin’s "18 Yellow Roses."

• Mitch Miller’s “Yellow Rose of Texas.”

• Two more orders of “gift” roses: Andy Williams’ “And Roses and Roses” and Paul Petersen’s “Lollipops and Roses.”

• Three show-tune roses: Bernadette Peters’ “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” from “Gypsy”; “Lida Rose,” from “The Music Man, and “Rosie,” from “Bye Bye Birdie.”

And like two of the show tunes, more songs about women named Rose:

• Tony Orlando and Dawn’s “Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose.”

• The Statler Brothers’ “Bed of Rose’s.”

• Frankie Laine’s “Rose Rose I Love You.”

• And Nat King Cole’s “Rambling Rose.”

It’s been a while since I did a film-based list, so I wanted to rectify that oversight, but I didn’t want to skip music altogether, either.

So, I thought I’d share some of my favorite memorable dance sequences from the movies, and I’d welcome your choices, too, in the comment section below.

I can’t go wrong starting with the master, Fred Astaire. Here are three of his countless film scenes — two with astounding dance partners and one unforgettable solo:

• My favorite: “Begin the Beguine,” with Eleanor Powell, from the film “Broadway Melody of 1940.”

• “Dancing in the Dark,” his magical Central Park turn with Cyd Charisse, in 1953’s “The Band Wagon.” 

• And his famous dancing-on-the-ceiling scene from 1951’s “Royal Wedding” — and the behind-the-scenes video of how he accomplished the screen magic.

And then a couple of classic dance scenes from timeless Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals:

• Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr overcoming cultural differences — and falling in love — in “Shall We Dance,” from the 1956 film “The King and I.” My favorite film “couples dance.”

• The energetic “June Is Bustin' Out All Over,” from the film version of “Carousel,” also from 1956.

And, for some reason, there’s something special about seeing guys dancing in a way that emphasizes the athletic, rather than more aesthetic, side of movement. See if you agree in this wide array of numbers:

• The barn dance number, from the 1954 film “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” that starts in a fairly traditional way until about 2 minutes in, when round after round of show-off, macho, “one-up-manship” takes over. 

• Even staid business executives cut loose in the “Brotherhood of Man” number from the 1967 film “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

And, of course, Gene Kelly makes two appearances:

• His dance with cartoon character Jerry Mouse in the 1945 movie “Anchors Aweigh.”

• And his career showstopper, the title song from 1952’s “Singin’ in the Rain.”

I’ll close with my favorite film ensemble dance (complete with Ann-Margret), the complicated “Lot of Livin’ ” staging from 1963’s “Bye Bye Birdie.”

Words! Words! I'm so sick of words!
I get words all day through;
First from him, now from you!
Is that all you blighters can do?
      — “Show Me,” from “My Fair Lady”

I’m going to take Eliza Doolittle’s advice this week and skip all those words. We’ll concentrate on melodies.

Here are some of my (many) favorite instrumental songs, and I’d welcome learning about some of your choices, too. You can list them in the Comment section below.

I’ll start with a special song, the beautiful “Mae,” by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. This was our father-daughter dance at Laura’s wedding last spring.

More tropics
And I’m still not completely over last week’s bout of musical “tropical fever.” So, I’ll reprise a couple of upbeat songs from that list — Perez Prado's "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" and The Ventures' "Perfidia" — and then add several more:

• “Yellow Bird,” by the Arthur Lyman Group.

• “Coming in the Back Door,” by the Baja Marimba Band.

• And two from Artie Shaw, his "Begin the Beguine" and another holdover from last week, “Frenesi.”

Still in a mellow mood
• "Moonglow and Theme From 'Picnic,' " by Morris Stoloff and orchestra. A great medley — and a great movie scene with William Holden and Kim Novak.

• Two versions of “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” -- the original with the Vince Guaraldi Trio and even bigger remake, from Sounds Orchestral.

• Bill Pursell’s romantic “Our Winter Love.”

Some Mancini music
How about two from Henry Mancini —both from the original Peter Sellers “Pink Panther” film?

The theme song, of course, and then the lively “It Had Better Be Tonight” — first the instrumental version and then — just because I love the movie scene — the song “Meglio Stasera,” complete with Italian lyrics.

Some jazz
Four songs:

• Two laid-back samples: Andre Previn’s “Like Young” and the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s classic “Take Five.”

• And two Dixieland jazz numbers: the Village Stompers’ “Washington Square” and Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen with "Midnight in Moscow."

Some ‘happy’ songs
• The Marketts' "Balboa Blue." (If I were ever going to host some fancy radio show, this is the tune I’d pick as my theme song.)

• Ralph Flanagan's upbeat "Hot Toddy."

• Bert Kaempfert's "That Happy Feeling."

Three progressively rockin’ songs
• Valjean's “throwback” "Mr. Mozart's Mash."

• Dave “Baby” Cortez’s “Rinky Dink.”

• The Rockin’ Rebels’ “Wild Weekend” party anthem.

One soul-stirrer
• Raymond Lefevre's "Soul Coaxing (Ame Caline)."

A ‘last’ word
I’ll end with two songs that each contain one spoken word:

• One at the start: “Wipeout,” by the Surfaris.

• And one at the end: The Champs’ “Tequila.”

Just one taste of traditional Minnesota winter weather and I’m ready for a trip to the tropics – at least a mind excursion.

You’re welcome to come along.

See if any of these songs get you in the mood for a Latin dance or two – with a full orchestra, preferably outdoors, near the ocean and some swaying palms and, of course, under the stars and a full moon.

And to complete the fantasy, scores of elegant couples dressed in swanky clothes – something like this Humphrey Bogart-Ingrid Bergman snippet from “Casablanca” as they elegantly dance to “Perfidia” (complete with what we know today as a disco ball).

It’s such a great song to set the tropical mood that we ought check out a couple of full versions — Linda Ronstadt’s, with Spanish introduction and plenty of horns, and the Ventures’ rock hit.

I don’t think we’ll re-create all of my tropical fantasy, but I’ll take what we can get — including a wide array of Latin-tinged mood music and dance beats: a beguine, some mambos, the bossa nova, the cha-cha and many more variations.

We can’t go wrong starting with Diana Krall and her version of “Let’s Face the Music and Dance.”

Then we’ll pick up the pace with “Mambo King” Perez Prado’s two chart-toppers “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White” and “Patricia.”

And two other nice dance numbers:

• Bobby Rydell’s “Sway.”

• Henry Mancini’s “My Friend Andamo,” from the “Mr. Lucky” TV score.

Then two melancholy songs:

• Sheryl Crow’s version of Cole Porter’s “Begin the Beguine,” from the biopic “DeLovely.”

• And Caterina Valente’s sad “The Breeze and I.”

We’ll transition with some jazzy bossa nova: Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd's “Desafinado” and Ella Fitzgerald’s vocal version, “Desafinado (Slightly Out of Tune).”

And a little more Ella never hurt anyone – so here she is on Duke Ellington’s “Satin Doll.” Switcheroonie!

There’s always room for one of the most upbeat songs ever: “Frenesi” — instrumentally by Artie Shaw and vocally by the wonderful Eydie Gorme.

I’m going to sneak in one Far East tropics song before returning to the West: Frankie Laine’s “Rose Rose I Love You,” with some evocative lyrics:

All my life I shall remember Oriental music
and you in my arms
Perfumed flowers in your tresses
Lotus-scented breezes and swaying palms …

Time to heat it up again with three warm movie songs:

• “Heat Wave” – no, not the Martha and the Vandellas hit. This one — Marilyn Monroe’s film version from “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”

• “Steam Heat,” and a tango, “Hernando’s Hideaway,” both from “The Pajama Game.”

As we near the end of our tropical voyage, I wanted to change pace with a slightly lower-brow number but one I really like: Perry Como’s comic, clever “Papa Loves Mambo.”

Hot, hotter, hottest
We’ll wrap up by sending the tropical musical temperatures a bit higher:

Hot: Sade’s “Smooth Operator.”

Hotter: Buster Poindexter’s “Hot Hot Hot.”

Hottest: And one slow dance — the fabulous John Barry’s “smoky” main theme from the 1981 film “Body Heat.”

It’s hardly a novel idea, but how about beginning the new year with a few old “New” songs?

There are a lot to choose from. Here’s a sampler by category:

 A new start
• Appropriately, U2’s “New Year’s Day.”

Some new views
• Patti Labelle offers a “New Attitude.”

• A whistling Roger Whittaker ponders a “New World in the Morning.”

• And so does Mama Cass with “New World Coming.”

• Linda Ronstadt teams with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra on “What's New.”

• Lots of folks didn’t think Melanie’s roller skate song, “Brand New Key,” was as innocent as she originally maintained.

• Dusty Springfield's "A Brand New Me."

• The Stylistics’ “You Make Me Feel Brand New.”

• And Tom Jones’ “What's New Pussycat?” movie theme.

A couple of new friends
Two new acquaintances for the new year:

• Jan and Dean’s “New Girl in School.”

• The Eagles’ “New Kid in Town.”

Places to visit anew
Next, musical trips to two popular cities — two (of many) songs for each stop:

• Gary “U.S.” Bonds’ rousing “New Orleans” and Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon’s “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans.”

• Mr. Sinatra’s “Theme From New York, New York” anthem and a forgotten hit by the Tradewinds, “New York’s a Lonely Town.”

... And one gnu song
• Courtesy of the Muppets: “The Gnu Song.”

There's a happy feeling
Nothing in the world can buy,
When they pass around the coffee
And the pumpkin pie
It'll nearly be like a picture print
By Currier and Ives
These wonderful things are the things
We remember all through our lives.

— “Sleigh Ride” (1948)
Music by Leroy Anderson
Lyrics by Mitchell Parish (1950)

It’s time for some holiday nostalgia — what better way to get ready for a mellow Christmas weekend?

“Sleigh Ride” sets the tone perfectly — both Mr. Anderson’s original instrumental creation — and the vocal version here with Andy Williams, accompanied by some classic Americana scenes.

The “Sleigh Ride” lyrics, too, pay tribute to Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives, two more purveyors of those classic wintertime and Christmas scenes.

Between 1834 and 1907, the New York City company perfected a business model that made fast, cheap, black-and-white lithographs that were then hand-colored. Currier and Ives even billed itself as  "the Grand Central Depot for Cheap and Popular Prints.”

My favorite Currier and Ives “picture print” is the 1862 lithograph “Central Park Winter.” I have many nice childhood memories of visits to Grandma and Grandpa’s house in St. Paul’s North End where my brother Dave and I would spend hours working on a large-scale puzzle depicting the famous skating party.

So, get in that nostalgic holiday mood. Sit back and relax, listen to the accompanying Christmas music and check out some familiar scenes of the season.

Try this combo or this one.

And then sample the master of Americana, Norman Rockwell. You’re made of stronger stuff than I am if you’re not moved at least a bit by this combination of music and Rockwell montage.

Too often, highfalutin types dismiss him as a sentimentalist or just an “illustrator” — any skeptic should check out this art analysis of one Rockwell Christmas image and marvel at what a complex, thoughtful artist he was.

* * * * *

And if you’re still craving more Christmas cheer, check out several of my earlier Listing Slightly salutes to the season: a mistletoe tribute here and an "overlooked songs" list here.

If you’re in the mood for a classic movie, you’ve got a lot of options: You can turn on the TV, pop in a DVD — or you can head to an area casino, or all the way to Las Vegas.

At any of those gaming spots, no matter which way you turn, you’re likely to see a movie-themed slot machine — or a wide variety of games offering popular TV show themes.

And they just keep on coming.

It’s not hard to see why, with nostalgia themes that play well to baby boomers and the older crowd — and remarkable technological advances that have turned many of the video slot machines into sophisticated, entertaining enterprises familiar to younger computer-gaming enthusiasts.

Some of the latest ones — most of them incorporating high-definition movie scenes — are themed games based on such box-office giants as “The Dark Knight,” “The Hangover,” “Sex and the City,” “The Lord of Rings” series and “Jaws.”

Not to mention — the biggest nostalgia draw: a whole series of “Wizard of Oz” slot machines,loaded with familiar movie clips. Here’s the latest “community event” version where a bank of four players all share a bonus round. And then here’s the first “Oz” game.

Casinos part of gambling debate
The gambling debate is in the news just about every day, with supporters touting casinos, racinos, electronic pull tabs and the like as relatively pain-free ways to raise funds for everything from a stadium for Zygi Wilf to more classroom teachers for our schools. Opponents, of course, worry about gambling’s impact on the poor, among many other perceived social ills.

From my view, the truth lies somewhere in between, and an occasional casino visit certainly strikes me as a legitimate entertainment option when handled in a socially and financially responsible manner.

And marketers and gaming manufacturers have made sure the new generations of slot machines will attract attention and be fun to play — like this brand-new “Ghostbusters” slot.

A decade of changes
And if you haven’t been to a casino in a few years — or ever, for that matter — you may not be aware of the electronic, high-tech wonderland of oohs and aahs — not to mention the high noise level — beckoning from casino slot floors.

Here’s a bit of the marketing philosophy behind the trends.

The biggest changes in the last 10 years have been the rise of the penny (and even half-cent) slot machine — and the so-called Ticket In/Ticket Out technology that has nearly eliminated coins from the casino floor.

As a matter of fact, most — if not all — slots no longer accept coins of any kind — only cash or a print-out ticket issued by another slot machine. So, when patrons “cash out” of a machine, they receive a ticket that can be redeemed at automatic kiosks or inserted in another slot machine.

The resulting marketing illusion has been a psychological triumph for casinos — now, when you put a $20 bill in a penny slot machine, the screen will show 2,000 “credits” (or in a $1 slot machine, for example, you’d see 20 credits).

At the same time, slot machines have multiplied the number of lines you can play. You can still find a one-line quarter reel machine. But when it comes to video slots, you’re more likely to see 50-line or even 100-line machines. That’s particularly true for the penny and half-penny machines (50 lines for 25 cents, for example). And of course, you’re welcome to bet more than one “credit” per line.

The end result of all this is that the innocent-sounding “penny bet” now can sometimes be as much as 1,500 credits a spin — which, psychologically, doesn’t sound half as expensive as “$15 a spin.”

So, be forewarned.

But, experts will tell you, the survival trick for casino patrons is setting a gambling — ahem, an “entertainment” — budget you’re comfortable with spending (that is, often losing) and when you’re money’s gone, you stop.

In the process, though, win or lose, you can find fun in trying some of the games — slot machine manufacturers have seen to that.

Here’s a small sample of what movie and TV fans may find on the ever-changing slot floors of casinos throughout the nation:

• One of the newest is the Batman slots — including “The Dark Knight,” another “community event” shared-bonus game. (You’ll also note that gaming manufacturers in many instances have produced slick videos touting the games and all their bells and whistles.)

• Even more awesome is “The Joker’s Heist” stand-alone machine, starring Heath Ledger's Joker and filled with more Batman scenes.

You’ll note, too, that spinning wheels like the one in “Heist” are a big deal in many games, building excitement as folks wait for the wheel to stop and award their prize.

• And you probably won’t be surprised to learn that one of the most enduring series of slot machines is based on “The Wheel of Fortune” TV game show. “Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle,” for example, is another recent game, this one featuring multiple wheel spins.

Another popular “multiple” is the number of screens.

“Godzilla,” a new high-tech wonder, features two screens, while the “Sex and the City” and “The Hangover” slots feature four screens. Each, of course, requires a separate bet.

Themes aplenty
Theme-wise, there’s something for everybody. Here’s a small sampling:

• Do you like gangster shows? How about “The Godfather” or “The Sopranos”?

• Comedies? You can find “I Love Lucy” slots and “Happy Days” for TV fans and “Airplane” for filmgoers.

• A sci-fi fan? How about multiple versions of “Star Trek,” or “Star Wars” slots, or even “Alien”?

• Or a romance fan? You might like the “Dirty Dancing” slot.

Whatever you do, though, go for the fun — and know when to quit.

You know it’s a big year for the traditional holiday plant when overexposed teen sensation Justin Bieber shows up all over the place promoting his No. 1 Christmas album “Under the Mistletoe” and its hit single, “Mistletoe.”

The Bieb, 17, has performed it at Disney World for the theme parks’ pre-taped Christmas Parade show and on the British version of “The X Factor,” not to mention publicity stops for the album at “Dancing With the Stars” and the lighting of the tree at Rockefeller Center.

And the media blitz has worked, boosting up the charts the song and the album laden with celebrity guest singers. Even so, the album was just knocked out of the top spot on the Billboard 200 by another holiday album, “Christmas” (which has several mistletoe mentions itself) by Michael Bublé.

One sign of the upbeat Bieber song’s popularity is the speed with which a parody version — tacky but fun — has appeared. (The last time I looked it had about 1.4 million hits.)

And even his video “co-star” — 18-year-old college freshman Ali Williams, who ends up kissed, of course, under the mistletoe — has found her 15 minutes of instant fame.

There’s even a new Hallmark Channel Christmas movie that premiered this season: “Mistletoe Over Manhattan.”

That’s a lot of publicity for one of the season's favorite foliage, which is actually a parasitic plant with a long, long history of offbeat lore and legend.

A couple of years ago, another relative newcomer, Colbie Caillat, offered another song called “Mistletoe,” but hers has  much more of a downer message.

But actually, mistletoe songs get a lot of attention every Christmas. Check out a small sampling of the many, many seasonal songs that can’t help but mention mistletoe. A couple of them even take a few liberties by inventing new forms of the word.

We’ll start with the Christmas song that’s No. 1 in the latest holiday radio airplay chart:

Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” which got its start in 1964 in the “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” TV special and has remained a seasonal staple:

Ho, ho, the mistletoe hung where you can see
Somebody waits for you, kiss her once for me. 

As a matter of fact, four of the top five radio-play songs this week mention mistletoe, including:

• No. 2: Brenda Lee’s 1960 classic, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”

• No. 4: Even earlier (dating to 1946), Nat King Cole’s version of the Mel Torme standard, “The Christmas Song.”

• No. 5: Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” performed here, too, at Disney World.

Then there’s another song with the same name: Vince Vance and the Valiants’ “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”

And a couple of standards:

• Bing Crosby’s “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”

• Frank Sinatra’s “Mistletoe and Holly.”

And a forgotten favorite: the charming “Christmas Bride,” by the Ray Conniff Singers.

And how about one mistletoe mention from a non-seasonal song: Ella Fitzgerald’s version of the standard “I’m Beginning to See the Light”?

Now, we’re into the wilder stuff — with invented words:

• The office party song from the Burt Bacharach-Hal David Broadway musical “Promises Promises,” based on Billy Wilder’s Oscar-winning film “The Apartment.” The song “Turkey Lurkey Time” introduces us to the image of a “snowy, blowy Christmas, a mistletoe-y Christmas.” And here's a 1969 version from the original production.

Those insurance company office parties are sure wilder than any journalism ones I’ve been invited to! We’ll see how MinnPost’s office party goes next week.

• And the perennial Andy Williams holiday favorite, “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” which invents another mistletoe word:

It's the most wonderful time of the year
There'll be much mistletoeing
And hearts will be glowing
When love ones are near. 

I’ll end with my favorite mistletoe song, “It Must Have Been the Mistletoe” —two versions, one sung by Barbra (Streisand) and one sung by Barbara (Mandrell).

Interviewer: “Everybody would like to be Cary Grant.”

Cary Grant, in response: “So would I.”

So goes the story about arguably Hollywood’s most debonair leading man ever. Archibald “Archie” Alexander Leach, known to the world by his stage name, died 25 years ago this month at age 82.

During his 34-year film career, he made 74 movies, beginning in 1932 with “This Is the Night” and wrapping up in 1966 with “Walk Don’t Run.” In all that time, he never played a villain — a good call!

In between, he earned two Best Actor nominations (for “Penny Serenade” in 1941 and “None But the Lonely Heart” in 1944) and five Golden Globe nominations. But he never won a major acting award — until 1970, when Frank Sinatra presented him an Honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement “for his unique mastery of the art of screen acting with the respect and affection of his colleagues.” He also was honored in 1981 by the Kennedy Center for his career achievements.

In 1999, the American Film Institute named him the second-greatest Male Screen Legend (finishing right behind some guy named Bogart). And he ended up on a U.S. postage stamp.

On the personal side, he led a busy life — he was married five times, was widely regarded as bisexual and dabbled in the early '60s with LSD (while it was still legal). He said the hallucinogenic drug brought him an “inner peace” that he hadn’t found with such things as hypnotism, mysticism and yoga.

A couple of the many interesting pieces of trivia about him:

• Ian Fleming reportedly based in part his James Bond character on Grant, and the actor turned down the chance to play the first 007 in 1962's "Dr. No" because he thought he was too old at age 58. Here’s a fun look at the “action side” of Cary Grant, set to — what else? — “The James Bond Theme.”

• Despite every impersonation ever done of him (even Goober on “The Andy Griffith Show” — yuck!), he never said, “Judy, Judy, Judy,” in any film. However, he did say, “Susan, Susan, Susan,” in one of my favorite films, the 1938 screwball comedy “Bringing Up Baby.”    

And believe it or not, Grant was a regular visitor to the Twin Cities.

He was here in 1942 as part of the World War II Hollywood Victory Caravan with the likes of actresses Olivia de Havilland, Joan Bennett, Joan Blondell and others.

Then, from the late '60s to the early '80s, he was here for business meetings, serving on the board of Faberge. One of its divisions — Rayette Inc., which made hairsprays — was headquartered in a 1909 building in St. Paul’s Lowertown. (Faberge closed its last St. Paul Rayette facility in 1983.)

Here’s a quick-hit look at a few of my (many) other Cary Grant favorites (including a couple of his four film collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock):

• How about Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest,” with the famed crop-dusting scene and his racy (for the times) dialogue with Eva Marie Saint?

• And one more Hitchcock classic, “To Catch a Thief,” including a sexy kissing scene with Grace Kelly that offers lots of fireworks.

• Not to mention one of his biggest weepers: “An Affair to Remember,” with the famous Deborah Kerr setup scene.

• There’s also this classic — but controversial — scene from “The Philadelphia Story,” with Mr. Grant “roughing up” Katharine Hepburn.  The film was later remade as a musical, “High Society,” filled with great Cole Porter songs.

There are plenty more, including “Arsenic and Old Lace” and “His Girl Friday” (a gender switch on the multi-version “Front Page” classic), but let’s wrap up with one of my favorites, “Charade,” with its great musical score and the witty repartee of its opening scene.

And, oh yeah, it also has that romantic Paris river cruise on the Seine. I’m there, man.

The pace of life has picked up a lot for our family since late July, when Andrew Joseph joined the Effenberger clan.

He’s our first grandchild, the son of our daughter Amy and her husband, Nate.

Of course, Pat and I think he’s very special, and I can’t wait to indoctrinate another family member with all my “unique” song preferences — from lullabies on through the pop catalog.

Family members already have been “customizing” some familiar musical favorites. It was Amy, I think, who started things off by morphing the title and lyrics of Sammy Davis Jr.’s No. 1 hit — from the movie “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” — “The Candy Man,” now officially known (and sung) at our house as “The Andy Man.”

I have a modest list of others to add to the mix, all easily adaptable because they rhyme with Andy. See what you think.

I’d start with:

• Another “Candy Man,” this one sung by Roy Orbison.

• And then add one other “Man” — Jimmy Jones’ original version of “Handy Man.”

And returning to a “sweet treat,” there’s also:

• The 4 Seasons’ “Candy Girl,” easily changed to “Andy Boy.”

• Plus the Strangeloves, with their rockin’ “I Want Candy” — I mean, Andy.

• The Manhattan Transfer’s smooth “Candy,” too.

And a bunch more:

• Barry Manilow’s breakthrough No. 1 hit “Mandy.”

• A No. 1 hit from the Looking Glass: “Brandy (You're a Fine Girl),” which also gets a gender change.

• Then, Herman’s Hermits with “Dandy.”

And three very different songs with the same title. In  chronological order, they are:

• Larry Hall’s “Sandy” (1959-60).

• Dion’s “Sandy” (1963).

• And Ronny & the Daytonas’ “Sandy” (1965-66).